The gold medal adds more luster to a development system that has grown into a dominant force at this tournament. Since finishing seventh, eighth, and sixth at the first three U18 Worlds, the United States has won a medal in all but one of the last 13 U18 World Championships, including an incredible five gold medals in the last six tournaments.

“We were able to get a quick start right away and get up 3-0,” said captain Louis Belpedio. “A lot of emotions, two years together and to hear that final horn at the end is obviously exciting and I’m glad I was able to do it with the guys on this team.”

And for coach Cole Danton, an emotional win for a program that lost on of its own a year ago.

"After the game I mentioned how proud of them i was and all the work that they put in and that they earned it the right way," said Cole.

“We also mentioned coach Tim Taylor, this was the last age group he worked with, and he died a year ago today. I wanted to get through this for him, every time I go to an international tournament I think of him and I miss him and since this is the last group he worked with it’s special to us and to USA hockey.”

For the Czechs, they can hold their heads high despite losing the chance to cap an amazing and unprecedented success in the 2014 tournament with a miracle upset. They will finish with silver, the first time the team has ever finished so high in this tournament.

Czech goaltender Vitek Vanecek was tested almost immediately at the outset of the game with a breakaway shot by Ryan Hitchcock. Vanecek made the save on that chance, but soon after a shot from the blue line by defenceman Jack Dougherty found the back of the net for the U.S.’s first goal of the game.

Then at 13:05 Austen Matthews jumped on a rebound in front of the Czech net to go up 2-0. Then before the Czechs could catch a breath they were down three goals, when less than a minute later during another scramble in front of their net the puck came to Frank Milano for the 3-0 score.

Czech coach Jakub Peter called a timeout to try and calm his team down, and with 33 seconds left the Czechs got on the board when Jiri Smejkal mopped up on a shot from Radek Vesely following a two-on-one rush.

Early in the second period a giveaway in the neutral zone by the Czechs sent the puck down to their own zone. Frank Milano got to it first and made a no-look backhand pass in front of the net to an oncoming Dylan Larkin for the 4-1 lead, and then Matthews scored his second of the game, assisted by Brandon Fortunato.

A shot from near the blue line that found its way through allowed the Czechs to cut the lead down to three goals with 6:40 left in the second period, courtesy of semi-final overtime hero David Kase.

But the Americans, who have built a reputation at the U18 tournament as a tough defensive team, shut down the Czech Republic offence all the way to the final whistle.

Milano finished with a goal and two assists, earning him the Best Player nod for Team USA.

“Feels great, probably the best feeling ever in my life,” said Milano. “We lost to Switzerland in the first game and that was kind of a wakeup call for us, and we knew that every team was going to bring its A-game so we need to do so as well, and now we got a gold medal. I plan on spending the rest of my life with this gold around my neck (laughs).”

The victory was especially sweet for forward Jack Eichel, who after missing out on a gold medal in the loss to Canada last year got his second U18 gold in three years in his last season of eligibility.

“It’s hard to put in words right now, but it’s the best feeling ever,” said Eichel. “We’ve gone through so much stuff in the last two years and it’s all for this tournament, to win and cap it off in this tournament is the best thing ever.”

For the entire team and the USA program, it is another feather in the cap for a country that is a true dynasty at the junior hockey level.

Click here for the post-game videoLawson Crouse had the game-winning goal in the second period, and Mason McDonald stood up in net the rest of the way to deny Tre Kronor a medal with a 38-save performance.

For the Swedes their tournament ended as it began, with a 3-1 loss to the Canadians in a game that played out similarly to their opening tilt back on 17 April.

Crouse, who had not had a great tournament up to that point with zero points and a -2 rating, chose a good time to get his first goal of the U18s, firing a great shot from the left circle straight past Soderstrom’s glove and into the top corner.

“It was good to get out there and grab a goal,” said Crouse. “I’ve been working hard all tournament and it finally paid off, I’m happy for that and it was a great experience being over here in Finland.”

It was a rough battle for bronze, as four game misconducts were handed out. Sweden came into the third period down by a goal, and things didn’t look good when Kevin Elgestal was handed a five-minute major and thrown out of the game for a check to the head to Canada forward Clark Bishop.

The Swedes killed off the major, but then as both teams played four-on-four hockey Travis Konecny blasted a slapshot from the high slot into the top left corner to give Canada the insurance goal with 4:48 remaining.

“Coach talked to us we needed to let go of that game and to have a short memory,” said Travis Konecny. “It’s not the medal we wanted to bring home but we can still be proud of how we played.”

The game started similarly to the previous tilt between the Canadians and Swedes in the preliminary round, with end to end action and big hits from both teams.

Sweden’s aggressive initially paid off midway through the first when a clearing attempt by the Canadians was intercepted in front by Henrik Tornqvist, who fired it home with a wristshot.

Canada equalized with just under three minutes to go thanks to a power play goal from Brendan Perlini. An shot attempt from the point by Jake Virtanen was blocked in front of the net, and Perlini gained possession, turned and shot the puck past Soderstrom. The period ended with a big scrum between the teams and two ten-minute misconducts handed out to defencemen Rasmus Andersson and Joseph Hicketts.

Following Crouse’s goal Sweden, which had racked up an impressive 31 goals in six games at the tournament, was not able to dial up any more offence and the bronze went to Canada, which earned its third straight U18 medal and sixth overall.

“I thought we bounced back well from yesterday, it was a tough way to go out,” said team captain Roland McKeown. “It’s definitely great to leave here with some hardware, we’ve been here 25-plus days and now that we’ve won the bronze medal we can leave with our heads high and be proud of ourselves.”

David Kase was the overtime hero for the Czechs, stealing the puck from Matt Barzal in the Canadian zone and lofting it past goaltender Mason McDonald and into the net for the winning goal.

"I read the play of the defenceman and was able to anticipate where he was going to go with the puck," said Kase. "Luckily I got the puck and saw the goalie go down so I chipped it over and it went in."

It looked like a comeback win was in the works for the Canadians as the defending U18 world champions came into the third period down 3-1. An early goal got them back into the game, coming at 14:58 with a shot from the point from defenceman Joseph Hicketts.

Barzal then took the puck in to the Czech zone and threw it on net with a backhand shot. But goaltender Vitek Vanecek struggled to corral it, which allowed Audette to get in front of the net and force it through to tie the game up with less than eight minutes to go.

In the overtime period Czech forward David Pastrnak had a great chance to end it but was stopped point blank by goaltender Mason McDonald. Pastrnak then took a penalty for tripping and spent two nervous minutes in the box.

"I wanted to kill myself then," said Pastrnak. "But I believed in the guys and they did a great job not giving anything up and I have to give a big thank you to them."

Kase redeemed him with the OT goal minutes later to send the Czechs into the final, where they will face the United States for gold.

"They played an excellent game," said Canada head coach Kevin Dineen. "They have some highly skilled players and it was a good matchup. I was disappointed for the players given how hard they played in the final thirty minutes, they put a lot of sweat into that and it's a hard outcome."

The Czechs jumped on the Canadians early with a goal 1:15 into the game. Czech leading scorer Jakub Vrana took a shot from near the boards, and Canada’s goaltender Mason Mcdonald gave up a big rebound right onto stick of Michael Spacek.

Spacek nearly had another in the second as his shot from the high slot rang off the crossbar. But the Czechs still went up 2-0 a few minutes later, after Canadian goaltender Mason McDonald let in a tough goal scored by Vrana from a seemingly harmless shot from the outside edge of the left circle near the boards.

Then at the seven-minute mark the Czechs won the puck battle in the neutral zone, and Radek Vesely got the puck into the Canadian zone. The forward got a shot off on McDonald who gave him back the rebound, allowing Vesely to make a cross-crease pass to an open Jiri Smejfal on the other side of the net giving the Czechs a commanding 3-0 lead going into the second intermission. The third goal galvanized the Canadians into cutting the lead to 3-1 on the power play just over thirty seconds later. On a three-on-one John Quenneville, Daniel Audette, and Matt Barzal combined for a nice passing play that ended in the back of the net from Barzal’s stick. Canada nearly had another off a scrum in front of the net late in the frame but couldn’t get the puck to cross the goal line.

But despite playing a great game, Barzal's one mistake in overtime was a killer, and the difference between Canada playing for bronze instead of defending its gold medal. As for the Czech Republic, win or lose tomorrow the country can be proud that a group of relative unknowns managed to go further at this U18 World Championship than any Czech team has before.

"Before we got here we said that this was going to be the most important ten days of our lives," said Czech head coach Jakub Petr. "These guys were mentioning big players that played for our country before in this tournament, but none of them ever played in a final. It's been the greatest experience of my coaching career and the best experience of my life."

“It was our goal to get a medal,” said a grinning Kase after the game. “Now we’ve made it all the way to the final, so we might as well win the whole thing.”

ADAM STEISS]]>on topWorldsU182014 WM18on topon righton leftSat, 26 Apr 2014 20:18:00 +0200USA goes for goldhttp://www.iihf.com/competition/368/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8754
U18: New year, same script as Americans defeat SwedesLAPPEENRANTA – In a clash between arguably the world’s top two youth development programs, the United States ended Sweden’s gold medal hopes for the fifth straight year, winning the IIHF U18 World Championship semi-final game 4-1.

Click here for scores, stats, and photos

“They were hungrier around the net, they took their shots and were able to score while we weren’t able to,” said team captain Gustaf Franzen. “We had a lot of power plays which we didn’t convert, unfortunately for us but that’s hockey.”

Sweden, the top scoring team going into the game, got on the board first 2:39 into the opening period. A shot from the point by William Nylander was stopped by Alexander Nedeljkovic, but the U.S. goaltender gave up a big rebound to Gustaf Franzen in the slot for the game’s first goal.

Tre Kronor's only lead of the game lasted for all of 32 seconds. Sweden turned the puck over trying to get into the USA zone, and on the ensuing rush Kyle Connor was able to pass the puck off to Auston Matthews before being taken out by the Swedish defence. Matthews made no mistake and tied the game up with a low wristshot.

Both goaltenders settled down after giving up the first two goals and played well through the rest of the period, punctuated with a great save by Nedeljkovic on Adrian Kempe a two-on-one.

The USA got the game winner just under eight minutes into the second period. Ryan Hitchcock pounced on a rebound coughed up by Linus Soderstrom following a shot from Noah Hanifin to go up 2-1.

Then in the third a great forechecking effort by Dylan Larkin and Ryan Hitchcock gave the U.S. the insurance goal. Both players chased the puck into the Swedish zone and overpowered the lone Swedish defender, allowing Larkin to get in front of the net and score. Jack Eichel scored on the empty netter to seal the win.

“They scored one goal but I feel we were all over them the entire game,” said USA captain Louis Belpedio. “(Larkin’s) goal was huge for us, he’s a guy who comes up big in games like this.”

The semi-final victory means that Team USA will make its sixth straight trip to the U18 gold medal game. The Americans have won more gold medals nthan any country in the 15-year history of this tournament with seven. Sunday night will tell if either Canada or the Czech Republic will be able to stop them from getting their eighth.

“We’re gonna stick to our game plan like we did today,” said Belpedio. “Whoever it is we’re going to bring it to them and hopefully win that gold.”

ADAM STEISS]]>on topWorldsU182014 WM18on top20 United Stateson lefton rightSat, 26 Apr 2014 17:06:00 +0200Semi-finals set to beginhttp://www.iihf.com/competition/368/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8752
U18: Sweden needs to exorcise U.S. demonsLAPPEENRANTA – It’s semi-final time at the 2014 IIHF U18 World Championship. A traditional, though recently one-sided, U18 rivalry gets a new chapter as Sweden takes on USA, and defending champions Canada face a surprising Czech Republic team that returns to the medal round for the first time in eight years.

For Sweden, Team USA has been a major obstacle at the U18s. In the 15-year history of the tournament, the Americans have beaten the Swedes in the playoff round six times. The most painful losses for the Swedes came in the 2010-2012 years, when the U.S. beat them 3-1, 4-3 in overtime, and 7-0… all in the gold medal game.

Nevertheless the Swedes are coming into the semis as the tournament’s top scoring team, averaging six goals a game. Leading the charge is forward William Nylander, a player whose draft stock is sure to rise following his performance at this tournament. In five games at the U18s Nylander has put up six points and nine assists to lead the scoring table.

Nylander and second-leading scorer Axel Holmstrom will be the focus for the Americans going into the game. Stopping the opposition’s top players has been the calling card for Team USA, which prides itself on playing strong from the net-out.

“Our goal is always to play tighter and make things tougher for the other team,” said head coach Danton Cole. “We’re in the medal round now and the games get tougher. Hopefully we’ll be ready to battle.”

In the other semi-final we have defending champs Canada in a surprise matchup against the Czech Republic. The Czechs have been perennial underachievers in this tournament since winning bronze in 2006. But there’s just something different about this team, which has proven scorers like Jakub Vrana that have carried the load on offence, while at the back end goaltender Vitek Vanecek has been consistent in not giving up anything easy to the opposition.

As for Canada? Look no further than the defence, beginning with netminder Mason McDonald who has a tournament-best 1.71 GAA. Unlike last year’s tournament that turned into the Connor McDavid show, there is no one scorer for Canada that the team has relied on. As of right now, Jake Virtanen is the leading point getter on the team with three goals and two assists, good for just 19th overall.

But with the scoring depth that the Canadians have (17 players have registered at least one point at the 2014 U18s), it could cause problems for the Czechss who struggled in a 3-0 shutout loss to a team with another deep roster, the USA, in the preliminary round.

But that’s why they play the games, and this year’s tournament in particular has seen its fair share of surprise results. Sweden-USA kicks off at 15:00 EET, with Canada-Czech Republic following up at 19:00.

ADAM STEISS

]]>WorldsU182014 WM18on top03 Canada04 Czech Republic18 Sweden20 United Stateson righton rightSat, 26 Apr 2014 10:09:00 +0200Danes kaputhttp://www.iihf.com/competition/368/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8748
German OT win sends Denmark to Division IIMATRA – Germany came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Denmark in overtime in the 2014 IIHF U18 World Championship relegation round. The Danes will be relegated to Division I after losing the series two games to none.

It was a tough loss to take for Denmark, which played arguably its best game of the tournament, going up by two goals in the first period. Markus and Kristian Jensen set up Christian Mieritz at 4:41, and eight minutes later Jeppen Korsgaard scored on the power play.

But the Danish attack sputtered and German goaltender Florian Proske only had to face five shots on net in the next two periods. At the other end of the ice Lillie Thomas was able to keep Germany off the scoreboard until midway through the third period. The Germans roared back into the game thanks to goals from captain Andreas Eder and Lukas Koziol, who tied the game with just under five minutes to go in the game.

Then in the extra period it was forward Jakob Mayenschein who sent Denmark to the 2015 Division I Worlds, scoring just under four minutes in keeping the Germans in the top division for next year.

Down 2-1 in the third period, the Swiss looked to be cooked with just over four minutes to go, but on a power play the team’s top scorer Kevin Fiala got the puck wide open on the side fo the net and fired it home to tie the game up.

But with just thirty seconds remaining on the clock, Travis Konecny put the dagger into the hearts of the Swiss with his third goal of the tournament.

"I just kind of read the play, I saw (Travis Sanheim) make a great play to beat the guy and make a great pass, it was a great play by him to get it over to me," said Konecny.

The key for the Canadians going into the game was to shut down the Swiss scoring duo of Fiala and Denis Malgin, who together combined for 14 points in four games. Neither player was able to register a point, that is until Fiala’s tying goal late in the third made the boys in red sweat a bit.

"I feel they battled hard, they went on the ice to win the game," said Swiss coach Manuele Celio. "At this level, one little mistake on the backcheck in the second goal and a bad line change on the third and that's the game, but I'm proud of how the guys fought today."

Switzerland last defeated Canada in 2010, and was looking to post another upset in the 2014 tournament after beating the United States in its opening game.

In the first period Switzerland’s Dominik Diem took advantage of a screened Mason Mcdonald, firing a shot from the right circle into the far side of the net to put the Swiss up 1-0 over the favoured Canadians.

Canada answered back with two and a half minutes to go in the frame, the goal scored by Jake Virtanen on the power play, assisted by Travis Sanheim.

Swiss goaltender Gauthier Descloux did well in keeping puck out of the net early in second despite pressure from the Canadians. But his teammates were unable to return the favour, and Canada went up by a goal midway through the second when the puck came to John Quenneville sitting in front of the net after a failed wraparound attempt by Jayce Hawryluk.

So after surviving the Swiss scare Canada advances, but both the players and the coach feel that the team has yet to play a complete game.

"They work hard for 60 minutes and play the trap well which is tough to go against," said defenceman Haydn Fleury. "I think tonight was a little bit of a setback, I think we'll get back to work tomorrow and hit our stride in the semis."

"Their game has really evolved," said Canada head coach Kevin Dineen of the Swiss. "They are extremely well-coached and they have a really good development program, for a small country they are producing some really good hockey players. We were outplayed for a lot of that game and I have to give the Swiss credit, we are very fortunate to be able to move on."

Canada now heads to the semi-finals for the fourth straight year and will face the Czech Republic.

"We just caught their overtime period, and they'll be carrying over a lot of the momentum from their game agaisnt Russia," said Fleury. "We'll need to be ready for that."

USA and Sweden will play in the other semi, both games are scheduled for Saturday in Lappeenranta.